The level of water conservation each summer varies from year to  year. This year happens to be one where the state has decided to fine people if they appear to be wasteful. I find that people don’t purposely waste water, rather they are unaware of where they may be able to save a bit without much effort on their part.

On my morning walk, I sometimes see sprinkler systems that are broken or out of adjustment. This means that they may have a geyser of water shooting up from a sprinkler top broken, or a sidewalk getting well watered instead of the lawn in the case of a sprinkler getting twisted. Both are things a person would fix but most likely are completely unaware of the problem. Sprinklers run at dawn, well before home owners are outside.

The first time I noticed the issue, I attempted to look the address up on the internet and then find a email address. It was more effort and less creepy than the solution I had at hand. A photo is worth more than words and makes the explanation easier, but a email address is needed to handle the digital photos. Instead, I have my trusty Polaroid 600, loaded with a pack of Impossible Project color film and a sharpie.

Now, I snap a photo, write a quick ‘nice’ message on the print and leave it on the door. No need to be rough in the text, keeping it nice means folks welcome the information to help avoid a fine. So far, 100% of the Polaroids left have resulted in a fix happening… and water saved. And, it’s fun taking photos of water mist early in the morning.